The last time someone ran a private passenger train was the Florida Fun Train back in 1997? it failed due to mismanagement and other unknown reasons-https://www.alaskarails.org/fp/passenger/fft/history/history.html#:~:text=The%20idea%20was%20to%20create,entertainment%2C%20tiki%20bars%20and%20restaurants. that were never well documented.
Undercapitalization and a lack of advance planning seem to have doomed Florida Fun Train from the start. As I've mentioned elsewhere, Brightline is not a standalone operation so it doesn't look like the same mistakes will be repeated.
Further, the Florida Fun Train originally did not go to Orlando, stopping at Kissimmee in order to save on crew costs to the detriment of ticket sales. At the very end they bit the bullet and ran to Orlando and ridership increased albeit too late to save the enterprise.
Brightline is a different animal looking to attract a small percentage of the 50 million car trips between Central and South Florida.
Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.